6 thoughts on “No Embarrassment”

  1. Can you imagine what the political reality might look like in America if cable news networks spent 18 hours a day talking about these kinds of lies and hypocrisy? If they actually tried to pay attention to facts and figure out what the truth was, rather than claiming a priori that “both sides are legitimate and have a point”?

    Instead we get a constant parade of sex, drug, and other scandals. No one cares what a legislator actually voted for or did in office. As long as they say the right buzz phrases at the right time, put on a nice smile, pretend to go to church and believe in “something”, even if that something doesn’t exist or do anything at all — well then, everything is just splendid in America.

    Oh, and the next time you talk about taxes and jobs, big media…do you think you could find an economist to ask? Perhaps one who knows about an America than existed before 1980, where marginal tax rates were very high but nearly everyone seemed to be doing quite well anyway?

  2. “My name is Senator Bob Corker of TN, and I’m running for President of these United States!!!”
    Yeah!’
    “My key stance is on the enonomy. You know who’s catching up to us? China, India, even Vietnam. Vietnam, for Christ’s sake! And do you know why? One word: Wages!”
    Yeah!
    “They are catching up with us because the American worker makes too much money! People there are happy to take home as a daily wage what we spend for a ‘Happy Meal.’ I will not rest until I’ve killed every union in this country. Until the workers here make our companies competative again by earning less!”
    Yeah!
    “Our workers work too few hours, have too many benefits, to much time off, which destablizes our companies. Some of our greediest workers even get pensions for their retirement, for when the WON’T or even CAN’T work!”
    Yeah!
    “Our workers eat too much, consume too much and too many things, and waste too much energy in this country by having wages that allow them to eat, to buy, and to get to work in cars, instead of living in company towns buying from the comany stores.”
    Yeah!
    “So my ticket is this: “‘No chickens in any pot!’ No TV’s or computers where your kids can play when they should be working to make America stronger instead!! And finally, ‘no cars in any garage!!!”
    Yeah!
    “In honor of this, I’ve created, along with my Tea Party friends, a new party. It’s called “America’s Sefing for Freedom and Prosperity.”
    Yeah!
    “Play our theme song!”
    Yeah!’
    “Help me Rhonda, help, help me Rhonda! Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip…”
    HUH?
    “Ooops! Sorry, wrong song. That’s ok, we’ll play it later.
    To continue, those of you whose votes haven’t been caged, I hope you’ll put your trust in me. We need to remember our fine Guilded Age. It was ‘guilded’ because it was a golden era. So, I say, a vote for me, is a vote for ‘BACK TO THE FUTURE!!!”
    Hurray. Hurrah!
    “Now play the song!”
    “So I say from me to you
    I will make your dreams come true
    Do you love me do you serfer boys and girls
    Serfer boys and little serfer girls…

    One listner, a Mr. Monty Python, had this to say. “I dont’ like the sound of these ‘ere conventration bamps.”

  3. Oh, and the next time you talk about taxes and jobs, big media…do you think you could find an economist to ask? Perhaps one who knows about an America than existed before 1980, where marginal tax rates were very high but nearly everyone seemed to be doing quite well anyway?

    This is one of the things that’s so laughable. “Companies won’t hire people because of a possible 3-7% increase in their taxes! The *uncertainty* is killing them!”

    You know why there were more jobs when there were higher marginal rates? Because *wages and benefits are deductible expenses*. Income taxes on businesses are on *profits*, revenue less costs. If you’ve got a 70% marginal rate, rather than pay taxes on $50,000, you might decide to higher another worker, rather than take home a measly $15k extra.

    And these things are still true. The claim that the uncertainty over tax rates is hurting hiring is bullshit because they’re not paying taxes on the costs of hiring.

  4. Long Haired Weirdo – that’s exactly what I never understood – why would taxing a business higher on profits decrease the ability of them to hire more people? If payroll tax were raised, that would be something else, but they are talking tax on income (read profit). The businesses should be buying heavy equipment, hiring people and renting more space for expansion in anticipation of a tax increase, all in order to decrease their taxable income. They win by keeping the money and being able to actually increase sales and profits with their new equipment/workers. Nope, never understood the Republicants.

  5. Why should they be embarrassed, it’s not like anyone will really call them out on it. We have almost universal condemnation regarding all facets of the stimulus bill by all media, yet stories showing the republicant stimulus hypocrisy or stimulus job creation amounts to little more than a whisper. Those stories don’t fit the media’s need for change and controversy. The media narrative this year is to pour it on the democrats only, reporting stories that compromise republicants just aint part of the plan right now. Media can’t wait for the republicants to get back the house and senate, it will be dramatic, intriguing, major league political “battle” 24-7, surely to attract more viewers and sell more commercials. Hell it’ll be almost as good as a hot war, political sex scandal or a contentious presidential election. I mean if the democrats hold onto power and unemployment drops to seven percent and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down who are the cables gonna get to tune in?

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